Chicozapote: sweet fruit and the origin of chewing gum

What is it?

Chicozapote is one of the most significant fruits of the Mexican tropics and one of the few plants to have given the world not only a food but also a globally important industrial product: chewing gum. It is a round or oval fruit, about six to ten centimetres in diameter, with rough cinnamon-brown skin and light-brown to reddish inner flesh, granular but smooth, incredibly sweet and aromatic, with a flavour reminiscent of brown sugar, vanilla and ripe pear. It contains three to twelve shiny, black, elongated and flattened seeds, which are discarded. It is mainly eaten fresh, opening the fruit and scooping the flesh with a spoon, although it is also used for jams, sweets, lollies, ice creams and milkshakes. The harvest season runs from February to June. The tree's milky sap, called chicle, is extracted through controlled incisions in the trunk and processed to obtain the raw material for the original chewing gum.

Origin and history

Chicozapote is native to Mesoamerica, particularly the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Guatemala and parts of Central America, where its use dates back to the Maya civilisation. The Maya not only ate the fruit but also extracted the tree's sap to chew, a custom documented in codices and colonial chronicles. The name chicozapote comes from the Nahuatl tzicotzapotl, where tzicotl means sticky and tzapotl, zapote or sweet fruit. The word chicle, derived from the Nahuatl tzictli, travelled the world through the English term chewing gum, but its origin lies in these Mexican trees. In the 19th century, Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, exiled in New York in 1869, took pieces of raw chicle with him to chew. He met the American inventor Thomas Adams, to whom he tried to sell chicle as a substitute for industrial rubber. Adams failed in that application but discovered its potential as a commercial chewing gum and founded the first modern chewing-gum factory in 1871, giving rise to a global industry. During the 20th century, the Yucatan Peninsula experienced an economic boom of natural chicle, with thousands of chicleros collecting sap in the jungles. The introduction of synthetic gums in the 1950s-60s dramatically reduced demand, but today there are initiatives such as Chicza to revive sustainable certified natural chicle.

Characteristic ingredients

Chicozapote is Manilkara zapota, an evergreen tree of the family Sapotaceae that can reach thirty metres in height and live for more than a hundred years. The fruit is harvested green and ripens at room temperature; it is ready when the skin feels slightly soft to the touch. It is opened with a knife or split in half; the flesh is eaten with a spoon, discarding the flattened black seeds. The granular texture is due to sclereid cells similar to those in pears, and the sweetness can be very intense, with high levels of natural sugars (fructose, glucose and sucrose). It contains vitamins A and C, iron, magnesium, fibre and antioxidants. The sap or chicle is extracted by means of zigzag incisions in the tree's trunk, without felling the tree, a traditional Maya-Yucatecan technique; the sap is boiled to concentrate it and shaped into blocks for export. The tree is cultivated in Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Veracruz and other tropical areas of Mexico. In cooking, in addition to being eaten fresh, chicozapote is used in aguas frescas, ice creams, lollies, jams, traditional sweets, ate (fruit paste) and mousse. The wood of the tree, called chicozapote or chiquibul, is extremely hard and durable, used historically for Maya constructions such as the beams of Tikal and Chichen Itza, which have survived for more than a thousand years.

Cultural significance

Chicozapote is part of the biocultural heritage of the Yucatan Peninsula and of the Maya peoples, linked both to traditional food and to the chewing-gum industry. Fray Diego de Landa, in his Relación de las cosas de Yucatán (16th century), mentions the Maya's use of chicle as an everyday custom. Chiclero activity gave rise to a unique rural culture in Quintana Roo and Campeche, with its own codes, tools and jungle camps, documented by anthropologists such as Eric Villanueva and Lorelle Crocker. The Chicza cooperative, made up of more than 2,000 Maya chicleros from Quintana Roo, today produces certified organic and fair-trade natural chewing gum that is exported to Europe and Asia, reviving an ancient tradition with sustainability criteria. Traditional Mexican cuisine, inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, includes this type of tropical fruit as part of the national gastronomic heritage. Economically, chicozapote supports tropical fruit production in several Mexican states, and the wood, known as chiquibul, remains a prized material in traditional construction and crafts. The chicozapote-chicle connection is a unique story in which a Mexican fruit gave its name and raw material to a global multi-million-dollar industry.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between chicozapote and mamey?

Both are zapotes but from different genera. Chicozapote (Manilkara zapota) has rough brown skin, granular and very sweet brown-reddish flesh, and small black seeds. Mamey (Pouteria sapota) is larger, elongated, with rough brown skin and creamy bright orange-red flesh and a single large central seed. Their flavours and textures are notably distinct.

What does chicozapote taste like?

Ripe flesh is incredibly sweet, with a flavour that combines brown sugar, vanilla, ripe pear and a hint of cinnamon. The texture is granular, similar to a pear, with fine crunchy cells and an overall smooth, honeyed consistency. The aroma is sweet and caramel-vanilla. When fully ripe, it almost tastes like a natural dessert without the need for added sugar. Eaten unripe, it is astringent and harsh.

How is chicozapote served?

It is served fresh, cut in half and the flesh eaten with a spoon, removing the seeds. It is also prepared in aguas frescas by blending the flesh with water and a little ice, in artisanal ice creams and lollies, in jams, traditional Yucatecan sweets and mousse. In Yucatan it is also used in some sweet sauces and in breads. It is ideal as a dessert on its own, without seasonings, because of its intense natural sweetness.

Where is chicozapote originally from?

It is native to Mesoamerica, particularly the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Guatemala and Central America, where the Maya cultivated and consumed it from pre-Hispanic times. They also extracted its sap (chicle) to chew. The names chicozapote and chicle come from the Nahuatl tzicotzapotl and tzictli. Today it is grown in tropical states of Mexico such as Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Veracruz.